Beyond The Fight: Benavidez vs. Johnson

Mom, and Dad

The two participants in the first flyweight championship fight in
UFC history share more in common than weight. In many ways, their
journeys to the top of mixed martial arts parallel. In other ways,
the contrast between the two 125-pounders is stark.

Benavidez, 28, and Johnson, 26, recently joined host Jack
Encarnacao on The Sherdog Radio Network “Rewind” to discuss their
long and winding roads to an historic opportunity at UFC 152 this
Saturday in Toronto.

Listen to the full interview with Benavidez here
and with Johnson
here. Follow the show on Twitter @SherdogRewind.

BENAVIDEZ

“I grew up (with a) single parent, mom. That’s why she’s one of
my heroes. She just worked so hard.

When I was young and living in San Antonio, at the age of 6, I
believe, we moved to New Mexico. My dad actually went to prison
when I was 6 years old for drug-related reasons. That forced us to
kind of just ship out and go to New Mexico. My grandma lived there,
my mom’s mom, and we just kind of surprised her … I just remember
moving from San Antonio to New Mexico like, ‘Where the heck are we
going? Why are we just in the car? Like, what about all our stuff?”
All we really had when we got there was what was in our car. But
when you’re that young, you’re just kind of living, you don’t
really think of all the big things like ‘Why are we here?’ or ‘Why
do these other people have a nicer car or their own rooms?’

I didn’t really understand until my dad got out of prison when I
was in my teens. And then I realized kind of where he had been my
whole life, and why he hadn’t been around. At that point I knew
what jail, what prison, what drugs, and everything was, and that it
was bad. (I) kind of tried to at that point rekindle a
relationship, and went and spent a few summers (with him), but it
just never grew into to a full-blown relationship. And even still,
we’ll talk here and there, but yeah. That’s just how it was when
you were a kid.”

JOHNSON

“All I know (about my father) is his name is Michael Allen
Johnson, that’s all I know. And I know that he had a set of
kids with somebody else, which is who he’s married to now, I
believe. And they’re twins, and I think they’re boys. I think I
have stepbrothers, but I don’t consider them brothers because I
haven’t seen them before.

There was just no father figure ever there at the household, so my
mom had to do both roles. I just roll with the punches and go with
the flow. My friends, when I’d go over to their house and I’d see
their dad and mom, I would listen to what his dad says to him, and
I would see how his father treats his mother, and I picked up tips
from there. But other than that, there was nobody at home telling
me, ‘You need to do this, do this,’ as a father figure. It was
always my mom telling me what I need to do in school. And even when
I did sports, she goes, you know, you want to do anything, you go
do it. Don’t let anybody tell you any different.

She’s legally deaf, and I didn’t know she was deaf until I got a
lot older. Just the way she raised us was, each time you talk to
somebody, you looked them in the eyes. She could read our lips, and
when we were in different rooms, she would always pound the ground
or the wall and I’d come in. She just made it work for her. We’re
living in her world … Even now, my wife, if she’s in the shower and
if she starts banging on something to get like lotion out or
something, I’ll come running to her because I’m so used to it with
my mom.”